Bible Strands
Genesis 20:4
Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abimelech speaks to God in direct response to a nocturnal dream warning. He addresses the divine speaker immediately after noting he had not yet approached Sarah.
The words — The text states Abimelech had not drawn near (קָרַב, ka.Rav) to the woman, establishing his physical restraint. He then addresses the dreamer as Lord (אֲדֹנָי, 'a.do.Nai) and questions the destruction of a nation.
The thread — The question mirrors Abraham’s intercession in Genesis 18:23 regarding the sweeping away of a nation. It parallels later scriptural appeals for divine justice in 2 Samuel 4:11 and 1 Chronicles 21:17.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to confront the tension between human claims of innocence and divine judgment. It asks whether procedural restraint or moral integrity exempts a person from consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
- 2 Samuel 4:11 How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”
- 1 Chronicles 21:17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Genesis 20:6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
- Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—